Salted Peanut Chews

Usually all it takes is me seeing the words “peanut” or “peanut butter” in a recipe title to get me to save it immediately. And sometimes it takes even less time for me to get my butt in the kitchen and whip it up. For some reason, however, these beauties slipped through the cracks. Part of it is probably due to my habit of saving recipes in multiple locations – doggy-eared magazines, binders with clipped recipes, Google Reader, regular ol’ bookmarks, and who knows where else. I don’t remember when I saved this recipe, but I was doing a purge of my bookmarks last week when it jumped out at me. A cookie bar topped with marshmallows and then a layer of goodness that can only be described as a cross between a Rice Krispy treat, peanut brittle and peanut caramel. So in essence, only the most fabulous things ever!

This is a pretty easy recipe to throw together, with positively amazing results! The one caution I have is that when you make the peanut topping, you really need to work a bit quickly. It’s key to only heat the mixture until the chips are melted and everything is smooth; if you overcook the mixture it will start to thicken and harden (much like caramel). So, cook only until everything is melted, and then move swiftly with getting it smoothed out on top of the marshmallows.

Then pop it in the fridge and try to restrain yourself for about 45 minutes while it chills and sets. All of that willpower will be worth it, though, when you have a whole pan of these babies sitting in front of you. Totally delicious and addicting – consider yourself warned!

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat all the base ingredients except the marshmallows with an electric mixer on low speed until crumbly. Press the mixture firmly in the bottom of an ungreased 9x13-inch pan.

2. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately sprinkle marshmallows over the base. Base 1 to 2 minutes longer or until marshmallows just begin to puff. Cool while preparing topping.

3. In a 3-quart saucepan, mix all topping ingredients except cereal and peanuts. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly, just until the chips are melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in the cereal and peanuts. Immediately spoon the warm topping over marshmallows; spread to cover. Refrigerate until firm, about 45 minutes. Cut into 36 bars. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

I have a weakness for peanut butter as well. But I have a suggestion to remedy lost recipes. Whenever I find one online, I use CutePDF Writer (free software which can be downloaded online if you don’t have a PDF writer already) to “print” the recipe as a PDF. I then save it in a “Recipe” folder with subcategories already set up. All organized AND allows for searching within the folders, yay!

Ok…there were 100+ new unread messages in my inbox this morning…and this is the first and only thing I read before calling it quits. Mostly because I immediately checked for and made a list of ingredients, to be made as soon as I get home from work. These look perfect!!

Saw the picture on your Facebook page before I read it in my RSS Feeds and ran to my kitchen to see if we had any peanuts. Alas, we’ll have to wait until I get all the ingredients. Looks too marvelous to wait.

It seems to be we are all about peanuts and pb! I made and posted Peanut Butter Cupcakes with PB&J Buttercream…yes really buttercream that tastes like pb&J, today. I want to try these bars…they look / sound goooooood! 🙂

I’ve been making this exact recipe for oh…years and years…they’re so yummy 🙂 I got the recipe from a Betty Crocker Baking Book, just FYI. I always make two pans of them at Christmas…one pan goes out as gifts, the other pan stays home with me 😀

Yummy looking bars. I love baking with nuts but can’t do it that often – my son is allergic. So, when I know he won’t be around for a few days, I bake something like this. Thanks for adding to my collection of recipes my son can’t eat! And I can!

i’m currently making these–my grandmother made something similar and i havent been able to find a recipe; but this looks like it. when i made the “base” mine wasn’t crumbly-it came together like dough. i beat all the ingredients together until crumby and then added yolks and extract. i’ve never just “thrown everything in a bowl and mixed”. after taking it out of the oven it doesnt look grainy like the picture-looks more like a shortbread. will the end product be different? next time should i just “toss it all in a bowl and mix’? I used my KA standmixer…

Hi Joey, Unfortunately, I can’t speak to results if the technique used was different than what the recipe states. How the recipe is written above is how I made it, so if a different mixing method was used, then that could be why the base has a different texture.

These sinfully and calorie inviting!! Definitely gonna try this.
However, where I am staying, there are no peanut butter chips and rice cereal.
Is it possible to substitute peanut butter with peanut butter spread and rice cereal for cornflakes?

Hi Sarah, I think crushed cornflakes could be substituted, however regular peanut butter would not work, I don’t think. Peanut butter chips melt and set like melted chocolate, while melted peanut butter will not set up firm like that.